Chapter 2: Offers
The hallways and corridors appeared endless, all bleeding together. Off to the sides were doors, leading to who knows where. Office space? Stairwells? Dissection lab? Execution chamber?
Ecliptor spared no thought to it. He was too focused, too angered, for such morbid musings.
He wouldn't listen to me, Ecliptor thought, resisting the urge to break free of his restraints with a mere wrist snap. Now we're all prisoners.
Oh, the humans wouldn't admit to it. At least not the ones he engaged with since the soldiers captured them.
Ecliptor shut his eyes. How he remembered that undignified capture. The group, following Diabolico's lead, escorted the boy (Shinji?) out of the hospital to a receptive assemblage of personal firearms and armored vehicles. Before anyone could explain the situation, a human, wearing body armor and a helmet with a face shield, demanded they release the child. If they failed to comply, the soldiers would open fire.
Ecliptor, along with Bluefur and Goldar, wished to test that resolve, but Diabolico hurried the boy on over. A pair of soldiers grabbed the boy at the shoulders and escorted him away into an awaiting vehicle.
The human then demanded that they raise their hands. At this, Diabolico briefly looked at the others before complying. A moment later, the others joined him. This compliance had emboldened the soldiers to surround them.
All monsters were forced onto the ground, flimsy metal hand bindings placed upon them. Eventually, boxy vehicles pulled forward, and the monsters (with the exception of Bluefur, due to his hand bindings melting from toxic residue) were shoved into one. Nine soldiers had accompanied Ecliptor, with the closest blindfolding him.
This humiliating remembrance was interrupted.
"We're here," said the human on Ecliptor's left, while his companion on the right grunted.
Both wore the same two-piece black tie and suit, same pairs of sunglasses. Undoubtedly, they had the same firearm type on their respective persons. Only real features that distinguished them were their face and hair. The left's dark hair was sheared into an all too short crewcut. The right's auburn hair was somewhat longer with a goatee that provided little cover to the second chin underneath.
Ecliptor closed his eyes. Endure this. Endure for your daughter.
He followed Lefty and Right—appellations too creative for disposable characters—down a series of halls. When it seemed as if the halls might continue forever, they turned and opened a set of doors to a conference room.
To Ecliptor's right, a straight line of tables and chairs with a podium in the center. Another set of humans, in similar garb to his escort, stood at another door on the other end of the conference room, close to the arranged furniture. To his left, sitting in fold-up chairs, were Ecliptor's fellow monsters. Closest to the door was Diabolico, acknowledging him with a brief nod; Villamax was next, offering polite greetings. After him was Goldar, who said, "Look who finally made it. "Can we start this execution now, or what?"
"You're not going to be executed," Righty said with a huge grin. "Dissected maybe, but definitely not executed."
"Knock it off, man," Lefty said, then outstretched an arm towards the only empty chair in the line: right beside Diabolico "Please, Ecliptor-san, have a seat."
Ecliptor sat without a word. Diabolico kept his gaze straight ahead. Rito and Bluefur, sat at the line's end, leaned forward in their seats and offered their greetings. Normally, he would not pay much mind to the two buffoons, but the dozen arboreal ornaments hanging around Bluefur's neck piqued his interest. There was also a human in baggy white protective gear, hands and feet protected with black gloves, head covered with a cylindrical helmet with tinted visor. Complete anonymity with garment suited for a deep-space miner.
Bluefur, noting Ecliptor's wonder, said: "My 'all natural' odor was too much, so these humans have tried to 'freshen me up'."
An alarm, soft but distinctive in the confined space, went off at those last words. Bluefur sighed, shoulders sagged. "Please don't—"
A colorless liquid shot from the handle. The human diligently sprayed Bluefur's entirety. When the human had finished, the massive monster's fur had turned a darker blue. Floral scents, underpinned by a soft stench, filled the room.
Conversation stopped after that embarrassing display. Any other noise, such as a cough, or adjusted chair was enhanced in this wordless vacuum. The incessant drip off Bluefur's damp coat slowed.
"How was your questioning?" Diabolico finally said, an all too welcome refrain.
"Rather a bore. I've seen Quantrons give better interrogations."
Another stretch of speechlessness. Bluefur twiddled his thumbs, miniature trees clanking against one another and his broad simian chest. Rito stared dead ahead. Villamax crossed his legs. Goldar simmered, his monkey brain fuming with violent thoughts toward their self-denying captors.
Ecliptor permitted his thoughts to drift. He revisited Dark Specter's mothership, at the time directing a portion of the United Alliance of Evil's forces to occupy Earth. That cursed blue rock had shamed and smitten a number of the galaxy's greatest villains: Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, King Mondo and his Machine Empire, and Divatox and her crew. All renowned for the destruction and mayhem in their wake.
All bested under the gloved boots of teens with attitude.
Dark Specter, greatest villain of all, desired to succeed where his peers had failed. Oh, how brilliant a scheme it was. Stretch out the rangers and their allies across the universe. Coerce those that had failed to defeat them into an organized force, call it the United Alliance of Evil not to offend their bruised egos, and let them help in spreading them out further.
Exhaust them. Break them. Once everything was done, rangers cornered and groveling, evil rivals proud and triumphant, send out a universal ransom transmission. Zordon, in his tube, captive aboard the mothership.
The do-gooders that they are, all the rangers would lay down their morphers. While the other villainous forces would comply with all Dark Specter's requests. After a contained demonstration of Zordon's energy waves against the first member of the United Alliance of Evil to decide to break the pact, of course.
Then Andros shattered Zordon's tube and foiled the vilest plan ever.
Now I'm here, Elciptor thought, gripping his knees. Held prisoner along with idiots. Awaiting execution.
The doors at the hall's other end shot open and officials stepped out. Based on the dress, Ecliptor assumed most were military in some way except one (a female) dressed in a white coat and casual wear underneath that. Perhaps medical or scientific. These new arrivals sat at the tables on either side of the podium. They busied themselves with folders and papers, writing utensils gripped in their hands.
Noticeably they all avoided gazing at one particular human—a male from the facial hair on the side of his face and chin. This male's bespectacled gaze—white gloved hands steepled at face-level—fell on none of them. He instead stared at the assembled monsters.
Unease, sharp like a newly forged blade, struck Ecliptor's emotional processors. The only other times he ever felt this was when he addressed Dark Specter, whose fanged smile haunted him still.
Eclitpor gripped his thighs, attempting to calm himself. He is just a human. A plain looking one at that!
Thankfully a purple-haired female stepped up to the podium. She wore a stylized scarlet jacket over a black dress. Before she began to speak, she looked the assembled monsters over. Her body language was relaxed, her face split into a wide smile.
"Welcome everyone! Sorry for the wait. How are you guys?" she said.
Shoulder shrugs and half-true okays followed. Ecliptor remained silent and still.
"Great!" she said. "I'm Captain Katsuragi Misato of NERV's Operations Department." She glanced briefly to her right at a bespectacled male with white-gloved hands steepled before him on the table. "Where are my manners, do you guys even know what NERV is?"
"Is that the thing that I get on when I'm talking too much, and it annoys Goldar?" Rito said, mouth slightly agape.
Goldar closed his eyes and shook his head. If Ecliptor had not known either monster, he might have felt sorry at their bumbling association.
Captain Katsuragi Misato waved her right-hand in a calming gesture. "Not that kind of nerve. NERV is an organization dedicated to defending Earth."
"From what, good madam?" Villamax asked.
"The Angels."
"Angels? Like the kind from church?" Bluefur blurted. "Aren't they good guys?"
"I believe the beings Captain Katsuragi is referring to are different than the ones you are thinking of," Villamax said.
"Exactly," Katsuragi Misato said, smiling all the while. "These Angels are giant extraterrestrial creatures invading Earth."
You have no clue how apt a description that is for your audience as well, Ecliptor thought.
"Didn't a guy from the hospital mention them?" Goldar asked. No surprise he had forgotten the human's name, very little room in such a small brain.
"Hagiwara," Diabolico said, eyes never leaving the podium.
"Yeah, that guy. Said that these Angels caused a lot of damage. Property and personnel-wise."
One of the military officials at the table shook his head, and said, "Understatement."
"How powerful are these creatures, truly?" Villamax asked. His focus on the most relevant questions slightly impressed Ecliptor.
Misato's smile faltered. "Colonel?"
A gray-haired male in a copper buttoned, olive uniform straightened. Various insignia and ribbons adorned his chest and shoulders. A lifetime's service adorned in symbols. All this seemed to weigh him down, his movements lethargic, as if in a dream—or a nightmare.
"Gentlemen," he said, tone defeated. "I commanded one of the most disciplined and technologically advanced divisions in the Ground Forces. We had enough firepower to raze a city of old Tokyo's size several times over. We threw all it at this 'Angel', and we failed to scratch it."
The colonel's whole body shook, sweat dripping from his forehead. "I saw… I saw over six-thousand men and women vaporized in mere minutes. All those young lives destroyed…"
The colonel wiped his brow with his sleeve. Ecliptor suspected he was holding back tears.
What nightmares have I agreed to face, Ecliptor thought.
"Thank you, Colonel," the bespectacled man stated softly, yet with authority. "You may sit."
The colonel plopped back down into his seat, but still he shook. The Angel's massacre would haunt this man for his remaining days. Awake, or asleep.
"Commander Katsuragi," the bespectacled man said.
The purple-haired woman stood at attention. Her eyes fully on him. "Yes, sir."
"You may be seated, as well."
Commander Katsuragi gave a curt nod and marched towards her seat.
The bespectacled individual, undoubtedly the human leader, said, "Dr. Akagi?"
The blonde-haired female in the white coat stood. From her pockets, she pulled out a small, rectangular handheld device. A remote to another device in the room.
"Lights, please," she said. A suit obeyed and flipped a switch.
The projector on the ceiling beamed an image onto the wall behind the podium. Close up on rooftops–clothes lines, potted plants, and other human trinkets easy to note. In the distance, skyscrapers loomed. Concrete goliaths that lorded over the green hills behind them.
Ecliptor noted rising numbers in skull white in the upper-left corner of the image—a video actually. A timestamp.
Dr. Akagi clicked the handheld device. The video began. Clothes gently moved with the breeze then, as if suddenly struck with hurricane winds, the clothes, clothesline, and everything else not held down on the roof were blown away. In the distance, over the rubble of the once proud skyscrapers, stood an emaciated, humanoid creature.
Strange failed to describe it. Skin colored like ink hung tight to the bone underneath, while more bone stuck out over its body. That exposed bone took different forms: angular and flowing on the thighs, skeletal around the ribs, sharp and jutting at the elbows, and bulbous and protective on the shoulders. Even its face (if such a description applied) was a bone mask that narrowed and pointed down towards a crimson orb in its center.
"That's an Angel, huh?" Bluefur said, trepidation slipping into his voice. "Doesn't look so tough."
The Angel turned to where is eyeless, death-masked gaze fell directly onto the camera. It raised a clawed hand, and a luminescent whip jutted from it. The whole image then went white.
Bluefur gulped. Despite the darkness, Ecliptor knew everyone was staring at the large monster. An unspoken chastisement to his half-hearted confidence.
"That wasn't even the Angel's strongest attack," Dr. Akagi said, not fazed in the slightest, "It's A.T. Field, when expanded, causes an explosive reaction."
Thankfully, Bluefur and Rito remained quiet. The power they witnessed second-hand stunning them into silence. Somehow, this uncharacteristic quietude unnerved Ecliptor rather than the video.
Dr. Akagi pressed the hand-held device again. The video projected onto the wall changed with the click. This shot was angled down (perhaps the shot was taken while airborne?), providing a great angle to the duel below.
The Angel, forced onto its back, suffered under the heavy blows of its opponent. This one had wry, but more human proportions. Its form protected with armor segments colored purple and green. A purple horn, with a green band circling the base, jutted out from its forehead.
"This is an Evangelion—or Eva for short. Our answer to the Angel," Dr. Akagi said, her tone dry and clinical.
A strange force field, composed of multiple, polychromatic octagons, blocked all blows from the Eva's improvised bludgeon. The Angel's A.T. Field possessed considerable defensive capabilities.
Eventually, the Angel, simultaneously using it's A.T. field and limbs, forced the Eva off. The shot pulled back, showing the Eva catapulted into several buildings of varied height. Dust clouds, sprinkled with beams and concrete, bloomed upwards along this trail of destruction.
The shot changed again to a slightly off-center face-up of the Eva. It rose, debris falling off its body. A savage, angered glint shone in its yellow lenses.
Eventually the shot widened out, capturing the Eva's sprint to the Angel. The A.T. field appeared a quarter of the distance left between them. That failed to deter the Eva, though.
Upon impact, both its hands pierced the A.T. Field enough to where it was able to tear open a larger entry point, octagons phasing in and out of existence rapidly. The Eva's legs carried it over into the Angel's personal boundary.
The video stopped. A still image of the Eva's head rolled back, body crunched into a pose precursor to a howl or roar, covered the back wall. Any cursory resemblance to a human fell away with that frozen moment.
"Our Eva broke through the Angel's defense then proceeded to terminate it," Dr. Akagi said with pride evident in her voice.
Maul it to oblivion, you mean, Ecliptor thought, his gaze stuck on the Eva's feral visage.
Dr. Akagi waited a few minutes, letting both humans and monsters observe the still image, before requesting the lights be turned back on. The returned illumination may have reduced the image visibility, but the fierce outline remained.
One final click, and the projector powered off.
"Commander," Dr. Akagi said.
"Thank you," the bespectacled human leader said. His gruff courtesy cued Dr. Akagi to sit down.
Dr. Akagi nodded, stepping away from the podium. The bespectacled man rose. Everyone watched his walk to the podium. There was no hesitancy in that stride.
"I am the Commander of NERV, Ikari Gendo," he said as he gripped the podium's sides, looking down upon the sitting officers and monsters, "and I will cut to the chase.
"As we have presented to you, humanity is currently engaged in conflict with the Angels. As you may also tell, conventional warfare—missiles, tanks, and other advanced military hardware—fail to meet the challenge they pose."
All the surrounding officers in garb similar to the colonel's tensed as Commander Ikari spoke this truth. Partly from helplessness, but, as Ecliptor knew all too well, also contempt. These officers, representatives of this "conventional warfare", had a rivalry, if not outright hostility to Commander Ikari and NERV's solution.
"Unit-01, as clearly demonstrated, is more than a match."
Commander Ikari's gaze fell on everyone in the room as he spoke. That leer brokered no argument. Dark Specter would have felt impressed.
"Originally, that would be enough to meet NERV's goals," Commander Ikari continued.
Originally, Ecliptor thought. What challenge is your machine unable to meet…
That sentence trailed in Ecliptor's positronic brain. He knew what–or who– had partly derailed this "NERV's" goals. The six captives in this room were victims of his meddling.
"Human-sized monsters are attacking our assets, threatening our entire operation."
That admission appeared to slightly pain Commander Ikari.
"Where there is a problem, there is also an opportunity. According to eye-witness testimony, you six not only dispatched these monsters that have menaced us for months, but also saved civilian lives. In the process, rescuing Unit-01's pilot." He gently adjusted his glasses. "That to me means our goals align somewhat."
Commander Ikari waved his left hand. "The Self-Defense Forces would rather we lock you up in a government facility. 'Risk reduction', they cry."
The Ground Self-Defense Force officers adjusted awkwardly in their seats. Bluefur and Goldar, out of the corner of Ecliptor's eye, were glaring daggers at them.
"NERV would rather turn risk into reward." A smile appeared on Commander Ikari's face after saying that. That expression reminded Ecliptor of Dark Specter's fiendish grin.
"Gentlemen. I want you to join NERV. You are the obvious solution to our current predicament."
Not even a moment passed, before Goldar laughed. "Yeah, right, like I am going to trade one overlord for another."
"Goldar!" Villamax said, "Do not dismiss our hosts' offer hastily. This is perhaps our only way to proceed."
"Correct, Villamax, like always," said a familiar voice.
Bluefur and Rito jumped out of their seats when the newcomer spoke. He had suddenly appeared—much like in that desert Hell—behind the two. Ignoring the collective shock, he slipped past both monsters, strolling over to the podium. The speaker and tables' occupants, though frozen in place, appeared to follow his every step. The Man in White, standing before the podium, turned on his heels, cape gently floating despite the rapid movement. His white robes and blonde hair were radiant, as if generating light themselves.
"How are you guys?" he said pleasantly, as if greeting old friends.
"You lied to us," Diabolico said first, rising from his seat. "You mentioned nothing about Angels, or these Eva's."
"True. I left out some information, but I lied about nothing with the offer I presented."
"A lie of omission is still a lie." Villamax joined Diabolico's side, right index finger pointed like a sword's blade in a formal duel. "You peddled a mere bodyguarding detail. But from this presentation, it appears as if we're facing the apocalypse."
"Yeah," Bluefur chimed in. "The way you put it as a riddle wasn't straightforward either."
The Man in White crossed his arms. "I would have liked to have provided more straightforward information, but…"
"No choice?" Bluefur asked. "Do you have a parole officer, or something?"
The Man in White's face was expressionless. "I believe we're off topic."
"No, I don't think we are," Goldar said, stomping up to the Man in White. "Villamax and Bluefur are both right. If I wanted to watch some brat, I would babysit Thrax. If I wanted riddles, I'd ask King Sphinx."
"Yeah," Rito said, marching up beside Goldar. "Either that or move back in with Bulk and Skull and do both."
"Don't say those names," Goldar snarled, causing Rito to jump back. Despite lacking a brain, the skeleton knew when to not poke the flying cat-monkey. A lesson this Man in White, might soon learn.
"This isn't mere bodyguarding, or babysitting," the Man in White said. "This isn't a typical apocalypse either."
"What is it then?" Ecliptor dared to say.
"The evil dead rising from their graves to rampage across the multiverse."
That description, several times more detailed than in the initial offers to them, was still too obtuse. More riddles atop of partially solved riddles. Where was this King Sphinx that Goldar spoke of?
Bluefur voiced his confusion. "So, zombies are going to attempt a takeover of not only this place, but where we're from as well?"
The Man in White snapped his fingers, pointed his right index finger at the monster, and said, "Yes!"
"Okay. The kid from the hospital, that purple excuse for a Megazord, and those Angels all fit into this how?"
"Power. The kind that, in worse hands, will wreak havoc."
Bluefur nodded his head, giving every other monster in the room a glance, as if they were all confidants in some huge conspiracy. A conspiracy that, if the reward was not so enticing for participation, Ecliptor would avoid altogether.
"Remember the reason you all agreed to this," the Man in White said, walking over to each monster, his armor not making a sound. When he reached Ecliptor, he closed with, "A reunion with friends and family."
He spun around, white cape's tail mere centimeters from touching Ecliptor. As he walked back towards the podium, he stated, "There's always worse deals to make. Ask Commander Ikari."
That ambivalent statement prompted Goldar to rush the Man in White. Mere steps away from pummeling him, though, the Man in White vanished. Unable to halt his own momentum, Goldar struck the podium snout first.
The Man in White's sudden departure resumed time's normal flow. Those at the table jumped from their seats, equal parts concerned and frightened at the monsters' instantaneous position change. Commander Katsuragi, the black suits, and military officers pulled out sidearms. Commander Ikari remained unfazed as all this unfolded.
One wrong move, and a disaster would occur. An outcome that Ecliptor would not permit. Not if he wanted to reunite with his daughter.
"You must forgive Goldar," Ecliptor said, almost choking on the words, "he is so excited to accept your offer. Isn't that, right?"
Goldar shot Ecliptor a nasty look that meant "I will make you pay", before nodding his head.
"Yeah, I'm really eager to start working for you, boss." That last word sounded more like a curse.
"Excellent," Commander Ikari said. "Commander Katsuragi will hand you the appropriate paperwork."
Commander Katsuragi put her weapon back in the holster beneath her jacket, grabbed a manila folder on one of the tables, opened it, and pulled out forms and writing instruments. She quickly handed everything to the monsters, smiling all the while. That fierce warrior gaze from the stand-off completely gone.
Ecliptor skimmed the form. It requested name, birthdate, and other trivial information that would only half-interest a bureaucrat. As he filled out his form, half-paying attention, Rito bumbled up next to him.
"Hey, Ecliptor," Rito whispered. "I don't want to bother Goldar with this, considering, you know…"
"On with it," Ecliptor said as softly as annoyance permitted.
"You mind helping me fill this out." The skeleton waved papers before Ecliptor. "I don't really know how to read—or write."
Ecliptor, despite his best attempts, felt a creeping dismay grow.
Author's Note: Another one done. A bit slow, but one that sets up important elements for the story's remainder. As always, thanks to everyone for the support. Your favorites, follows, and reviews are greatly appreciated. I am hard at work on the next chapter. In the meantime, if you are craving more of my writing, please feel free to check out my other story: Hellboy in Dead Space. Until next time.